Orlando, Mta Officials Skirt Sunshine Law With Meetings

November 3, 1985|By Jim Heaney of The Sentinel Staff

Mayor Bill Frederick, Orlando city council members and several members of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have held more than a dozen one-on- one meetings in the last year that apparently violated Florida's Sunshine Law. The law, as interpreted by the courts and the state attorney general's office, holds that members of public boards must give advance notice of all meetings and discussions they have to consider official business.

Minutes of all meetings and discussions also should be kept, according to most legal authorities interviewed, including Orlando City Attorney Bob Hamilton. There was some disagreement on the issue, however.

The apparent violations of the Sunshine Law include the failure to keep minutes of 17 meetings and discussions involving city or MTA officials and at least one, and possibly as many as four, meetings that apparently were not properly publicized. The other meetings apparently met minimal posting requirements, but

they fell short of procedures suggested by the state attorney gen- eral.

Frederick, a member of both the city council and MTA, was involved in 14 of 17 of the meetings and discussions. He said he was unaware city procedures were improper.

The Sunshine Law was enacted by the Legislature in 1967 to guarantee that state and local governments discuss the public business in public. It is one of the most far-reaching open government laws in the nation.

Although the law does not specify what constitutes adequate notice, informal opinions issued by the attorney general's office have held that special meetings should be posted in writing at least 24 hours in advance.

The MTA, a regional road building agency that began meeting in September, has not established any procedure for notifying the public of special meetings.

Notices of meetings involving city officials are posted on bulletin boards in the lobby of city hall and outside council chambers. Meetings between the mayor and members of the council or MTA rarely are included in the schedule published every Friday by the city clerk's office, but are usually added at least 24 hours ahead of time.

Miami media attorney Dan Paul, whose clients have included the Wall Street Journal, Miami Herald and Florida dailies owned by the New York Times, said the city's posting procedure appears to meet requirements.

He noted, however, that posting requirements vary with circumstances, a point underscored in an informal opinion issued in 1975 by Attorney General Robert Shevin. ''The timely posting of notice of a public meeting on an official city bulletin board should suffice in most instances in a small community, while the same procedure in a large community probably would prove to be inadequate in many situations,'' Shevin's office said.

The opinion suggested such steps as posting an agenda or summary of issues to be discussed and making phone calls and releases to media representatives, depending on the circumstances.

In its postings during the last year, the city never included agendas or a summary of topics to be discussed. Nor did it make phone calls advising the media of the meetings.

-- Eleven meetings between Frederick and city council members and one with the mayor and MTA Chairman Walter Lowrie that were posted but did not have minutes recorded.

MEDIA LAWYER SAYS MEETINGS BROKE LAW

, ''There's no question that what you have is a violation of the Sunshine Law,'' said Paul, who helped write the first edition of the Florida Open Government Laws Manual in 1978. The handbook is a

guide to the state's Sunshine and Public Records laws and is frequently used by public officials, lawyers and journalists.

Frederick said council members initiated more than half of the one-on-one meetings to discuss upcoming business or constituent problems. Sometimes Frederick said he called a meeting to lobby a council member.

''I try to put it off long enough to post,'' he said.

In addition to meeting with the mayor, council members Glenda Hood, Mable Butler, Nap Ford and Pat Schwartz met among themselves.

None of the council members said they knew of the requirement to keep minutes of the meetings and most had a hard time recalling what was discussed. Council members said they left it up to the mayor or city clerk's office to meet posting and record-keeping requirements.

''I never do that stuff,'' said council member Jeff Clark, who has met with Frederick four times in the last year, according to city records.

''I don't even know what needs to be done, so I couldn't do it,'' Clark said.

Frederick said he is unsure whether the meetings complied with all the requirements of the Sunshine Law, but said, ''If I have any more meetings, we'll be very careful to ensure notice . . . is more fully put out.''

In addition the mayor said he will keep a written summary of meetings and that the city would draft guidelines to spell out procedures.

''In fairness, we observe the Sunshine Law as much as anyone I know,'' Frederick said.